Just One Wish
by daisydol
Summary: When Buffy slays a demon that can grant wishes, she's given the ability to make one wish in the next twenty four hours before her power runs out. Will she wish for something petty and selfish, or will she use her power to right a terrible wrong? Please R
1. Chapter 1

**I was in the comic book store awhile ago (I know, I know) and the guy working there told me this storyline for Buffy that never made it to the show due to scheduling conflicts. He claims that Joss described it during Comicon and it always stuck with me how cool it would have been if this story idea had been realized on the show. This is just a short little three chapter story to paint the picture he told me. Takes place early in the last season.**

**I own nothing relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or anything else in the Whedonverse.**

"In the words of the illustrious Pat Benatar, hit me with your best shot."

The demon swung full force at Buffy, which she dodged effortlessly, taking advantage of the opening it's offensive attack left for her to kick it in the ribs. It let out a scream of pain and frustration through its three rows of razor sharp teeth and tried to collect itself, but Buffy was far faster than it was. Spotting its head, she launched into a spin kick and knocked it to the ground. The demon was large and well muscled under its sickly greenish skin and Buffy could feel a slight vibration under her feet when the monster hit the grass of the cemetery.

Pressing her advantage, she jumped on the demon and thrust the long sword she'd been carrying for the hunt down with all her might into its chest.

Her eyes grew round with surprise as the sword snapped at the hilt against its tough skin. "What the hell are you, Rock Biter?"

With a howl the demon threw her off of it and regained it's footing, advancing at her with a newfound determination to rip her arms off.

From her place on the ground Buffy knew she had to think fast if she didn't want to be part of the grass she was now sprawled out on. With the demon almost on top of her, she sprang into a handstand so she could take full advantage of the strength in her lower body. With lightening speed, she grasped the demon's neck between her feet and spun on her hands. The demon was wrenched to the side and Buffy felt a surge of triumph as its neck cracked satisfyingly between her ankles.

She jumped to her feet and looked down at the thing that lay before her to make sure it was really dead. Tiny cracks began to make their way through its skin like cracks in a sidewalk and she watched in fascination, knowing that its body was going to break apart any second. She'd seen a lot of crazy demon evaporations, dustings, emulations and meltings in her life, but this one was turning out to be utterly original.

The cracks were deepening and Buffy watched as a large one began splitting the demon's head directly down the middle. Suddenly, a bright green light erupted from the cracking flesh, shooting out toward her with a force that knocked her back and left her temporarily blinded. A rush of power surged through her veins, causing her heart to slam in her chest and adrenaline to race through her system. She clenched her fists, the power in her so strong that she wondered if she could contain it. She felt like she could take on the world.

When her vision cleared she looked over to where the corpse had been and saw that nothing remained but a fresh patch of wildflowers.

"Huh." This was definitely new. She still felt like the strongest being on the planet, like the demon had imbued her with its own strength and power. She knew she had to figure out what this feeling was all about, had to go home and enlist the help of the gang to look this demon up in the books. She knew only too well that, most of the time, when given a parting gift from a demon there was often a pesky side effect or two that she could do without.

Jumping to her feet, energy cycling through her like an electric charge, she ran home as fast as she could.


	2. Chapter 2

"Here you go. Aarzoo Demon."

Willow pushed the book across the dinning room table toward Buffy for confirmation. Buffy nodded at the picture of the demon and began reading the text about its capabilities.

"The Aarzoo Demon, native to what is now the middle east, possesses three rows of teeth for shredding its unfortunate prey as well as a nearly impenetrable flesh that makes killing it a challenge. I kinda knew all of this."

Willow nodded sagely, replying in a slightly sing-song tone. "Keep readin'."

Buffy returned her attention to the text, skimming the parts about its slow speed yet incredible strength until she got to the part that explained its death. "The Aarzoo's tough skin will begin to dry and crack upon its death, releasing its life force in a violent burst. Those within range are imbued with this force as is the environment surrounding the creature's body. Once imbued, anyone within range retains an aspect of the demon."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Great, wonderful, just what I need, the aspect of another demon. What will it be this time, drinking its brains or some other tasty concoction before I go nuts hearing everyone's thoughts or try and kill everybody in the house during a psychotic delusion?"

Willow repeated her original sing-song reply. "Keep readin'."

Buffy looked down at the rest of the text one last time and her eyebrows shot up. "This demon is able to manifest desires. Upon its death, those who are imbued with the aspect of the demon will have a diluted and temporary ability to make one wish. Often the power remains available for, at most, twenty four hours."

Willow smiled as Buffy looked up into her eyes with a dumb struck expression on her face. "I can make one wish?"

Willow nodded. "See why I told you to keep readin'?"

Buffy jumped to her feet, the feeling of the energy in her body still strong as she paced back and forth in front of her friend. "This is huge."

"What's huge?" Buffy directed her attention to the doorway as Xander entered the room.

Willow's eyes stayed on Buffy as she fielded her friend's question. "Buffy was granted the ability to make one wish in the next twenty four hours by an Aarzoo demon."

Xander took a seat next to Willow, his eyes large and intrigued. "Can she wish for more wishes?"

Willow rolled her eyes and pulled the book back toward her. "It doesn't specify, but it seems pretty unlikely. The power to make the wishes is what Buffy got and it was diluted when it went from the demon into her. Most likely, she will use all of the power reserves she has in just making that one wish and then she won't have enough left to make any more, no matter how many she wishes she had."

Xander wagged his eyebrows. "Hey Buff, could you at least dress up in a Jeannie costume and nod your head when you make the wish? That would be granting your wish and mine all at once, it's a win-win."

Both Buffy and Willow hit Xander with mild looks of annoyance before Buffy continued her pacing. One wish. She hated that she was on a time crunch, what if she made a hasty wish and wasted this opportunity.

Crossing her arms over her chest she began to think out loud. "One wish. One wish. There's no time to think this through thoroughly enough to avoid wishing for something that could turn around and bite me in the ass. I have to go about this responsibly."

She snapped her fingers. "I know, I could wish for the mortgage company to disappear into the Hell Mouth."

Willow leveled Buffy with a faintly scolding look. "Oh right, that would be a totally responsible thing to wish for."

Buffy knew that it was probably the manic energy ripping through her, but she found herself slightly annoyed by Willow's understandably reproachful look. "Hey, you don't know. There are a lot of people who are having a hard time with money. I could be like Sunnydale's version of Robin Hood."

The reproach in Willow's eyes stayed put. "Sure, Robin Hood. Except, instead of stealing from the rich to give to the needy you will upset the fragile balance that is our socio economic structure so you can stop paying your bills."

Xander could sense the sudden and unnecessary tension that was building between his friends. "Ladies, lets not get ahead of ourselves here." He turned to Willow. "Buffy was just thinking out loud. She really wouldn't wish for something that frivolous, she was only making a joke. Right?"

Buffy's annoyance grew as opposed to being quelled. "How do you know I was joking? You know, none of you have any idea what its been like since my mom died, or since I died for that matter. Sure, you may have acted like you know but neither of you are the proud parent of a teenager in your early twenties. The more we talk about this, the more I feel like I deserve to make as frivolous of a wish as I want to. I should be able to wish for a huge ice cream cone right now and neither of you should have anything to say about it!"

Buffy stormed from the room and out of the house, feeling enormously childish as she did so, but completely incapable of stopping herself.

At the sound of the front door slamming Willow and Xander exchanged silent looks for a moment before Xander broke the heavy silence. "Well, that was a fairly "Days of Our Lives" moment."

Willow stood and gathered the books she'd used to find the Aarzoo demon up, irritation painted vibrantly across her face. " Yeah, if Days of Our Lives took place in a Gymboree."

She walked toward the stairs to take the books back to her room with Xander following closely behind. "We should cut her a break. She does have to deal with a lot of things that we don't have to think about, she deserves her moments of immaturity."

They entered the master bedroom and Willow replaced the books in her chest before sitting on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "I know she does, but that doesn't mean she's the only one on earth with problems."

Xander could see where Willow's thoughts were going and he sat on the bed beside his friend. "I know you haven't had any easy time there yourself."

She looked world-weary as she leaned her head against his shoulder and let him put his arm comfortingly around her. "Some days are easier than others. I'm not complaining, I'm grateful that I got a second chance. It's just that sometimes I have to fight harder than other times not to slip into the bad place."

Xander laid his cheek against the top of her head and smiled. "I think we all wish we could just wallow in the bad place sometimes." He patted her knee, knowing that for Willow the bad place had an entirely other meaning, but choosing to keep things light.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Xander spoke again. "You miss Tara a lot, don't you?"

Willow sighed, her eyes falling gently closed at the pain in her heart that hearing Tara's name could bring. She often wondered if it would ever hurt less than it did right now. Somehow she couldn't imagine it. "Every minute."

Xander gave her a gentle squeeze. "In times like these, there's only one thing that can cure what ails you."

Willow lifted her head to smile up into her friend's face as he finished his thought. "You pop the popcorn, I'll get "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."


	3. Chapter 3

Buffy wanted to kick herself. She'd gone shoe shopping, worked out, eaten an enormous dinner and then walked the streets of Sunnydale until the sun went below the horizon. The churned up feeling that the Aarzoo demon had filled her with was finally starting to dissipate to an easier level to deal with and the memory of her earlier immaturity was making her wince with each moment that she relived it.

What the hell had been her problem? She knew it was most likely just stress that had come out due to the extreme jolt to her system from the demon's power, but that still didn't change the fact that she'd acted like a tantruming child in front of her friends.

She'd actually looked Willow and Xander dead in the eye and told them that, basically, they didn't have any problems. Had she been serious? Xander's ex-fiance had gone back to being a vengeance demon while the love of Willow's life had been killed in front of her, causing Willow to kill the man responsible and almost end the world. Buffy may have her fair share of extreme problems, but her friends were right on the misery boat with her and she'd acted as if she was rowing the whole thing alone.

Buffy wriggled her toes in her new boots, choosing to wear them on her walk home so they'd be adequately broken in before work tomorrow. When dealing with the problems of teenagers on a Hell Mouth, the last thing one wanted to worry about was stiff and uncomfortable footwear.

She could feel the energy in her system ebbing and she knew that she needed to get down to deciding how to use her wish. Her head was feeling clearer now and she felt more comfortable making a solid decision.

She knew she didn't want to waste the wish on something related to money or finances, despite what she'd said earlier. Her comments really had been intended to be tongue in cheek when she'd made them earlier, before she'd had her selfish meltdown. Money was something that would work itself out somehow, it always did. She wanted to wish for something that would be a bit more difficult to obtain through ordinary means.

Which left things with a little more weight and substance to them, like world peace and global warming and stuff.

Who was she kidding though. She had seen enough in her life to know that wishing for something as general as "world peace" would most likely bring a whole host of enforceable consequences along with it. Everything hinged on balance in her experience and shifting the balance of the earth completely to one side would most likely cause it to grind to a halt if it was done in an inorganic way, like through a sudden wish.

She was going to have to keep it simple, keep it more personal. She thought about her life and what was missing. Her mind drifted to Angel and Spike and her complicated love life and she quickly chased the thoughts away almost as quickly as they'd set in. Supernatural and love hadn't really ever been a mix that worked for her. If she was going to sort out her crazy love life, she wanted to do it with everyone's free will perfectly intact.

A thought struck her. What if she could wish for something that could help someone she loved? She was the slayer and, at the end of the day, she knew that she could handle anything that this world or the next was prepared to throw at her. But, what if this was her chance to help someone in a way that didn't involve punching or kicking?

An idea, so pure, so perfect, struck her in that moment and she knew without hesitation that she'd made up her mind. She picked up her pace, eager to get home where she could make her wish and watch it all play out.

Willow glanced up from her book as she sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed to see Buffy standing in the doorway. "Hey."

Buffy smiled softly and took a step into the room. "Hey. Whatcha readin'?"

Willow closed the book so Buffy could read the title on the cover out loud. "Practical Uses of Herbs and Tinctures."

She turned a questioning glance toward her friend's face and Willow explained. "I'm looking into magic free ways to help with things like sleeplessness and grief."

Buffy's heart turned over in her chest a bit and she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Will, I'm sorry I acted like you didn't have any problems earlier. I was just all caught up in the weirdness of the moment. I don't feel that way at all."

Willow nodded, a weary smile touching her face. "I know Buffy. You were pretty revved up from that demon power. I know you didn't mean to act so-"

Willow's voice trailed off and Buffy smiled, finishing the sentence for her. "Bratty?"

Willow chuckled. "I was going to go with impish."

Buffy nodded, her own chuckle coming out. "Oh, much better."

Willow's smile was genuine as she felt any residual tension from the argument earlier leaving her. They were able to patch things up and move on in a way that only old and true friends could and she was eternally grateful that she had people in her life that she could always count on to be there in the end.

"So," She began "have you given any more thought on how you'll use your wish?"

The look on Buffy's face melted into one of pure mischief and she held up her foot for Willow's inspection. "Like my boots?"

Willow looked down at Buffy's feet and admired the new leather boots that graced them. "Very nice. You get those today?"

Buffy nodded, the mischievous look in her eye never fading as she got up and walked to the full length mirror to admire them. "Yup. They're the comfiest boots I've ever had."

Willow's eyes grew shadowed as annoyance began to grip her anew. "Buffy, are you trying to tell me that you spent your wish on a new pair of boots?"

Buffy turned around to face her friend, the expression on her face one of pure surprise. "What would be wrong with that? Footwear is a practical necessity."

Willow's expression was one of pure disgust. "You wished for boots? Buffy, I know that wish was yours to make but, I have to say, that is the single most selfish thing I have ever heard!"

Buffy smiled wider and walked over to the side of the bed. "Oh, you're just mad because you think I didn't get you anything. Stand up, I have a surprise."

Willow stared at her as if she'd lost her mind, but complied by slowly rising from the bed and standing in front of her friend. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

Willow obeyed. Despite her high level of annoyance, she was starting to get a little intrigued. "Okay, now don't peak. Promise?"

She nodded her head and waited. After a moment, she felt the warmth of a hand taking hers. Her skin tingled unexpectedly at the contact and her heart began to pick up speed.

"Open your eyes sweetie."

The voice that met her ears was deep and familiar and Willow's eyes flew open as her heart slammed against her ribs. The hazel eyes of her soul mate stared into her own.

Tears sprang sudden and hot to her eyes and she gulped air. "Tara?"

Tara's eyes were filled with tears as well despite her huge, slightly off kilter smile and she reached up to cup Willow's face. "I'm here Willow. I'm here."

Willow threw her arms around her love, burying her face in her shoulder. She was warm and alive and really here. They sobbed in each other's arms and Willow peered over Tara's shoulder to look in Buffy's face as she stood in the doorway, a small smile of pure happiness touching the slayer's lips as she watched the reunion unfold.

"Thank you. Thank you." Willow whispered through her tears, the joy in her heart so intense it was almost painful.

Buffy nodded and gently pulled the door closed to give the lovers the time together that they deserved. As she made her way down the hall toward her own bedroom in her new shoes she sighed happily. She had killed a demon, righted a universal unfairness and bought a pair of killer boots. All was right with the world.

**Please let me know what you thought. Thanks very, very much for reading!**


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